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Albion | Freeware | Freeware From A-Z | Security | Virus Information | Updated 09/09/03

The Index

• Go back to the main Virus page Index
• How a Boot Sector Virus works
• More viruses for you to check out, "The Archives"
• What are the symptoms of a virus?
• THE SYMANTEC VIRUS CALENDAR
• Virus News Headlines
• What is a hoax?  Check out the "BadTimes Virus" for a bit of a laugh and to show some of the outrageous things which can enter into a hoax virus. Most though are no laughing matter.
• Check out these Hoax Busting Sites
• 5 tips that email you got is a hoax

VIRUS SYMPTOMS
What should you look for

With all this talk about viruses, people still wonder: How do you know if you have one? Everyone expects an executed virus to flash skull-and-crossbones on the monitor while a disturbing laugh wells from the depths of the hard drive. In truth, much of the time it can be difficult to tell if your computer is infected. There are a few symptoms to watch out for. If you notice any of these things happening on your computer, it's worth running your scanning software.

• Your computer seems to run much slower.
• Files disappear from your hard drive without explanation.
• The modification or creation dates on your files don't seem accurate.
• The size of files or programs increases greatly without explanation.
• Your RAM is nearly full and you're not sure why.

THE SYMANTEC VIRUS CALENDAR

Many viruses have a specific date on which to deliver their "payload" (the destructive part of the program, as opposed to the part that deals with self-replication.) Symantec maintains an online calendar that keeps user up-to-date on upcoming dates when viruses are scheduled to execute destructive commands. If you think you've been infected and you want to know what to look for, check out

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/calendar/

More viruses for you to check out

• Check out Kournikova cornucopia by Rob Rosenberger
  Note: The Myths.com site is temporarily down. If you get a message that the site cannot be found, try the Urban Legends and Folklore site instead. For more on the "AnnaKournikova" Worm, please see Symantec or McAfee Thanks Denise for the broken link report, very much appreciated....Bo
• APStrojan
• Melisssa X or Melissa 2001
• W97M.Melissa.W
• Hahaha Worm Is No Laughing Matter
  Alias Hahaha and Snow White, this complex worm updates itself via the Internet. Reports of infection are increasing wordwide
  Hybris (W95.Hybris.gen) is a complex supervirus whose e-mail delivery system is similar to Happy 99 and whose programming and payload are similar to MTX.
• Click here for the top Viruse
• MTX Virus won’t let victims get help A computer virus that’s smart enough to block its victims from getting help is steadily spreading around the Internet.
• W32.Kriz More on Kriz here
  Click here to begin the online scan. If you already know you are infected, proceed directly to the W32.Kriz Removal Tool.
• VBS/Forgotten Read an emal, get infected.
• Prolin-The pro-Linux "Prolin" virus -- which infects only Windows-based computers -- arrives in e-mail posing as a Shockwave movie.
• W32.BleBla (alias MyRomeo, MyJuliet, Verona) hails from Poland and automatically executes upon preveiwing or reading the infected HTML enchanced e-mail.
• W32/ProLin@MM
• Romeo and Juliet bug a low risk
• Navidad, Hybris viruses on the loose
• W32/Navidad@M
• Sonic.Worm Approaching
   
  A new virus is spreading throughout Europe and is heading towards the US. Batten down the hatches and update your anti-virus files to avoid its destruction click here for a full report from ZdNet Updates.com
  The Perpetrator Sonic.
  Worm will arrive as an e-mail message that has the following subject:

  Choose Your Poison, or I'm your poison

  The virulent part of the e-mail is an executable attachment named:

  girls.exe, or lovers.exe

  If you are unlucky enough to launch the executable, the following text will be displayed in a Windows message box:

  "girls.exe is not a valid Win32 application.", or "lovers.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

  Sonic will copy itself to the Windows system directory as a file called GDI32.exe and install itself in the System Registry under the Run Key as HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run\"GDI"=C:\Windows\System\GDI32.exe

•  New ‘Love Bug’ virus a low risk
• “DonaldD.trojan” is spreading, but not in U.S.
• Palm.Liberty.A - Destructive Palm program discovered

• Microsoft's Security Patches and where you can get your copy

• VBS.Forgotten.A@mm
• W32.Music.A.Worm
• X97M.Codemas.C
• XF.Sic
• W32.XTC.Worm
• W32.Blebla.B.Worm
• W32.Navidad Removal
• W32.HLLW.QAZ.A Removal
• W95.MTX Removal
• PWSteal.Trojan Removal
• W32.FunLove.4099 Removal
• Wscript.Kakworm Removal
• The Kak Help Center provides instructions
  for cleaning a Kak infection and
  preventing future infections from occurring.

The List Continued from Page I

How a Boot Sector Virus works

By infecting those areas of the hard disk, this type of virus will be loaded into memory every time the PC is turned on, even before the operating system is loaded. This gives the virus an opportunity to start the cycle over, by copying to more floppy disks, as they're passed from user to user.

Latest Headlines

• Antivirus firm predicts bug flood
• Damage limited from lonely hearts virus
• Real-life bug the germ of ill will in antivirus industry
• Virus map paints U.S. red
• New virus protection for handhelds

The BadTimes Virus

If you receive an email entitled "Badtimes", delete it immediately. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

• It demagnetizes the stripes on ALL of your credit cards.
• It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt to play.
• It will program your phone auto dial to call only 900 numbers.
• This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.
• It will drink ALL your beer.
  
  FOR GOD'S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING!?!?!?
• It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting company.
• It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine, all the while dating your current boy/girlfriend behind your back and billing their hotel rendezvous to your Visa card.
• It will cause you to run with scissors and throw things in a way that is only fun until someone loses an eye.
• It will rewrite your backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and incorporate undetectable misspellings which grossly change the interpretations of key sentences.
• If the "Badtimes" message is opened in a Windows 95/98 environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub.
• It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.
  
  **WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN!!
  

Thank you for stopping by.

Some resources to check to see if that warning you got in your email is real or just another hoax.

1. Symantec's Hoaxes page.
2. Urban Legends Reference Pages.
3. Inboxer Rebellion page.
4. ZDNet Help & How-To's E-Hoax Central.
5. McAfee.com's Virus Hoax
6. Hoaxbusters

Five tip-offs that you might be looking at a hoax:

• It's forwarded from a friend of a friend of an acquaintance of your boss's second cousin's dentist
• It's badly punctuated with TOO MANY CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points!!!!!!!
• It starts out by saying, "This is not a hoax!"
• It warns of dire results, such as crashing your entire hard drive or causing economic chaos
• It asks you to forward the letter to everyone you know.